Your Mutual Guardian
by Smol-Fluffle
Summary: A bureaucrat with unknown origins, souly existing for one purpose of his higher-up, has a surprising twist to his fate that will result in good and bad intensions. All starting from an encounter with a small infant girl.
1. Prologue

Prologue

A dark, abyss-like room, with a single white light hovering and floating over the whole area, filled with different types of body parts, matching a thin, tall, middle aged, male human body. A pair of bright colored eyes that did not match up to any human ones were looking around at a rapid pace, focusing on only three things. A small purple eye, a medium neon green eye, and a large red crimson eye. All of which were looking at the small set of teal, green, and yellow eyes staring back at them.

The small purple eye begins to speak in a high pitched, feminine sounding robotic tune. It speaks in a language that no one except this kind knows. It speaks, only questioning about a current plan they have, and if this is a good approach. The medium green eye replies, this one being the same, except more in a masculine manner. It replies by stating this is the only option they have, and if this does not work, they will have to do the work themselves. The conversation goes back n' forth for minutes, the purple worrying, and the green reassuring. It goes on and on, until the large red crimson one, of all different lights and shades starts to speak along. It's the eerie, low, empowering voice, that shows a clear sign of dominance in the collage.

It reassures the both of them that this creation will work, how this is their best option yet, this will be what they use for their work, and what they will use to help and aid them in their ultimate goal. First, it retells its tale, a tale of a large species, inbreeded for so many generations that it can now only go so far. Then, it retells the plan, what will happen, what they will do, and what this creation right in front of them has to do with it. Purple, Green, and small multicolored pair simply watch as their chief in command gives a clear explanation. So vivid, it replays over and over and over and over, until it's telling is over.

The purple one, always so curious and wondering, speaks with a question. It asks what exactly this creation has to offer.

'No emotion,' Red replies. 'None whatsoever.' The Purple, Green, and Multi stare. 'Sadness, guilt, despair, happiness, anger, pain, crisis-none of the sort, not even close.'

'Why, it's so similar to us,' the Purple one says. 'And you are certain you did not make a sacrifice?'

'If I did, would I lie and say I haven't?' The Red replies.

'How remarkable we've come,' the Green states. 'So far enough to reach all we can. Creating something in our likeliness, put it in a vessel, leave it out to dry, then send it off. All why it thinks on its own. Truly outstanding.'

As the Multicolored pair continue to stare, it begins to be lifted up, hovering over what appeared to be the head of a human. Slowly being dragged down, the Red spoke again.

'Lanky, thin, flimsy, limply,' it begins. 'Body of a human male, 46 years of age in comparison. A skinny, skeletal structure. Up to 6 feet and 3 inches in height. Weight of Weight of 54 kilograms, 120 pounds. Hair of an extremely darkly colored magenta tint. Hairless in all parts, excluding eyebrow and head hair. No genitals, no bottom orifice, no bosoms. Other organs used in the human body that are deemed worthless were not added. All organs are manufactured in ways of only technology. Any substance that this body attempts to take will be evaporated once it reaches the decoy stomach acid.'

The pair begins to be injected into the eye sockets, turning around until it faces into the correct position. The head then gets picked up and hovered to a headless body. The Purple one begins to speak up.

'It is built to feel nothing,' it begins. 'It will not know how to mourn the dead, it will not know how to cry, it will not know how to smile. It will breathe and think all on its own, but it mostly will do what we ask. It can do nothing more. It will walk and talk, but it mostly will speak of what we approve it to say.'

The head is placed and screwed onto the torso of the body. As this happens, other limbs and body parts are being added, including arms and legs. The Green one speaks again.

'There will not be an identity to its being.' It begins. 'It will have short hair of the dark color, with hints of gray. Its eyes will be of a three vibrant color wave. Green, teal, yellow. Its outfit will consist of a dark gray blue suit, a dark black tie, black shoes, and a brief case, with the logo of the company. It will not be named, it will not be known to many, it will not talk to many. Only a selected few. If it feels like there is something of importance, it will come to us.'

As the last of the body parts were put in, it was time for the outfit to be fitted. As the undergarments are being put on, the Red one speaks.

'A name must be given to keep track,' it says. 'What shall it be?'

The Purple one speaks. 'Hoping not to be incorrect, it has the look of a human working for the higher ups, if not mistaken, their Government, and it has the appearance of a man...'

The Green one speaks. 'A... Government Man. Not too bad, not too suspicious I suppose. '

'The Government Man…' The Red one shifts its large iris. As this happens, all limbs of the floating vessel are added and put into place, creating an almost splitting image of a male human. All that need to be added was the uniform and accessories. As the undergarments were being applied, the Purple speaks. 'So it's settled, we have our own little pawn to control over. How exciting. This will work for sure, I can sense it.'

'It will be a very interesting observation. I can only hope nothing will get in its way.' The Green one speaks, a briefcase hovering passed it, getting closer to the human look-a-like. Finally, the pieces come together, the accessories and body parts fall into exact and correct place. So identical to a human, so life like that it was unbelievable what they had just created. The Red One in an impact of shook made its way to the creation.

'Speaks,' it commands. 'What is your purpose?'

It turns its head left to right, up and down, then looks directly into the Red One. "To serve." It replies, the voice croaky, raspy, seemingly grindy. The three eyes back away in surprise. 'Remarkable…' The Purple One speaks. 'It can speak just like them. This is beyond exciting!' 'Yes, it is…' The Green One says in a shock state. The Green turns to the Red, 'When must we send it forward?' '24 hours from now.' The Red replies. 'Until then, keep it here, fill it with enough information as you can about the mission. It will be perfect once the time comes.' The Red one phases away into a form of dust, leaving only a dark gray mist. The Purple and Green eyes proceed to initiate the process of transferring. Helping to turn this shell, into a living, breathing, thinking creature.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Average Welcome

The Jeep drove on the bumpy dirt road to the North of New Mexico, on April 14th, 2002. The driver in front-wearing most of his security attire except for his bullet-proof vest, his helmet, and holster-reached his momentary free hand to grab his drink and take a quick sip. While placing it back, he glanced over into the rear view to check on the professional man in the back. A middle-aged man no more than in his 50's, with a navy blue suit, a red and black tie, and a brief case displaying the logo of the research facility he was being driven to. The guard quickly looked away once the man glanced into the mirror himself. There was an intimidating vibe coming from his eyes, despite him being a pretty friendly guy. The guard simply figured he was just being antsy-it was rare for him to drive important people to the facility. He attempted to make small talk with him, trying to clear tension.

"How's your mornin' been, sir?" He started. The man looked up, taking a few seconds to respond. "Just fine." His voice being low and monotone in his reply. "Big day today?" "Quite." "Heard you mentioning something about the Administrator. You meetin' with him?" "That's what I plan- to do, yes." The 'N' in plan had droned on for just a second. That hadn't bothered the guard. Being around a majority of old scientist men for a total of almost 24 hours a day, he was used to a few speech impediments here and there. "You allowed to say what for?" "A simple experiment proposal." "Ahh, I see. You must have a real good one then." The suited man raised an eyebrow in the mirror. The guard choked up a bit before gulping and speaking.

"I mean-well, the Administrator likes to do his own thing, y'know? He doesn't really take suggestions from the government. Little weird since their research facility is the most government approved in, well, the whole country. They're working on making it 'the world' soon." "Mmm…" The man gave a simple nod. He already knew a great deal of Dr. Wallace Breen. His wealth, his knowledge, his rivalry between his facility and the facility of Mr. Cave Johnson. Understandable how theirs are much more trusted-how exactly can a scientific research facility be trusted when its own Administrator does not have the suffix 'Dr.' in their name? How ridiculous of them to do. "I think you two will get along. He probably is all hyped up to meet someone who he can probably share his ideas with. He likes conversation. Man's a talker." The guard looked into the mirror to get an eye-to-eye view. "He also likes a listener." The suited man looked into the guards eyes. The guard shivered. "Ah, well, you seem like a listener at least. You are pretty quiet so, um-" "I talk when it is necessary for the-majority of the-time." "Ah alright, fair enough." The conversation continued for minutes, before they finally parked at the front. Both of them stepped out, the guard hurrying to the back to get to the trunk.

"So it's for a month?" The guard questioned as he grabbed the man's luggage and placed it all into the conveyer belt. The suited man nodded as he took the handle of his briefcase and put a grip on it. "Would you like me to take that, sir?" "No need, thank you." "I'll walk you into the building then." As they were making their way to the front doors of the building, the guard turned his head slightly to the man. "You'll like it here, I bet. Some of the people here can get stubborn and grumpy, the majority of it being underground and all but, they all have good hearts, and usually get the job done as quick as possible." The man turned his gaze to him with a raised brow. "I only hope your offer gets accepted sir." Coming to the doors, the guard worked his way on the scanner as the suited man took a clear look at the large structure in front of him. A clean, simple, professional look, still managing to bring a hint of excitement into anyone's nerves. Not for him though, considering he really had nothing to be excited about. Not now anyway. The guard stepped out of the way as the doors opened, letting the suited man in. He took a couple steps forward into the lobby before turning his head to the guard. "Go on up to the front desk. The guy at the front will assign you an personal security guard that'll be with you for pretty much the whole month." The guard walked into the lobby, and looking into the direction leading to the security sector. He looked back to the suited man. "Enjoy your stay, sir." The door closed, and the suited man walked to the front as the guard went his own path.

—

"Alright sir, you're set. Just wait until your personal guard gets here." The man in the front filed his papers into an alphabetic order as the suited individual sat there with his legs crossed and his case in his lap. "Oh, I must mention as well. Your room will only be a level lower from the Administrator level, so the trips won't be long." The suited man nodded in reply. After a minute or so of waiting, another employee ran up to the man at the front and whispered to him, causing both to look to the suited man and become nervous. "Ah… ahem, well. Your personal guard has actually um, taken a vacation, without a warning to the staff apparently. We'll assign a new one, uh, who's open for duty?" The man at the front asked his co-worker. "Well, lets see… there's Chad, Robert, Charles, Otis, uh Clyde, Richard, umm Calhoun-" "Calhoun! We'll assign you with our guard Calhoun." He leaned over to his colleague. "Gives him an actual job to do." He whispered, which caused a snicker from both, quickly ending once the suited man coughed. After about a couple minutes, a guard with a bit of an after shave, somewhat peach looking skin, and eyes that noticeably had both brown and green in the iris stepped into the lobby. Small bits of stains on his pants stood out from its blue color and pieces of dust on his helmet flew off as he came in quickly.

"What do you need, sir?" He asked being a bit out of breath. The man at the front stood up and put a harsh hand on his shoulder. "Calhoun, you're going to have to fill an important role for a while." He gestured to the suited man. "For a whole month, you will be a personal body guard to our new resident. It's your duty to be of service to him at all times. That means being by his side when necessary and when requested." Calhoun looked to the suited man, and the suited man made eye contact with him, Calhoun almost instantly became anxious. "I want no complaining as well." The man growled to him. Calhoun scoffed, but straightened himself. "I'll do my best, sir." The man smiled and Calhoun walked himself to the suited man who soon got out of his seat. He gestured his I.D. for the suited man to see.

Name: Barney Calhoun

Sex: M

Age: 26

Black Mesa Research Facility Security Guard

The suited man leaned in to read the card, then leaned back to stand straight, as did Calhoun. The man at the front gave the suited man and Calhoun a key to his room, and instructed him on which tram to go to. Calhoun led the way to the tram.

—

At the tram stop, the suited man and Calhoun sat down as they waited, on the flat bench plastered against the wall. Calhoun had just picked up a newspaper from the nearby machines and began to read. The suited man stared into his brief case before looking over to the paper. He leaned in a bit to get a better look. A usual one, he suspected already, talking about the economy and such, boasting about a famous individual, a 'silly' cartoon to go in the middle. Typical really, he hadn't expected much. Calhoun noticed there was a bit of disappointment and disgust in the suited man's face as he looked over to him. He folded the paper and rolled it up in his lap. "Yeah, I hate these papers too." He placed it into the nearby trash bin. As he did, he noticed a soda machine across the room, and turned to the suited man. "I'm going to head to that machine, would you like anything?" He asked to him. The suited man simply shook his head in response. Calhoun headed to the machine to grab a drink, and returned to sit down as he popped open the can. "You not thirsty?" He asked and took a sip. "No." The suited man said. "I simply don't-enjoy them." "Far enough sir."

The tram eventually arrived, and the suited man and Calhoun made their way inside, leaving shortly after. Calhoun held onto the hook hanging from the ceiling of the tram, while the suited man stood still with his briefcase in hand. Calhoun looked to the man who seemed to be staring into space, lost in his own thought. Calhoun notices the suited man staring into nothing, barely blinking. He wasn't the type to really trust large power-like figures so much, besides his own administrator of course. He leaned in a bit to take a longer look at the man. He was extremely pale, pretty much translucent. He had sharp cheek bones and a widow's peak in his hair line. He was also tall, taller than about 90% of people Calhoun had ever met, it almost scared him when he realized he only went up to about his chin. The most noticeable trait of him that really stood out-his eye color. The colors of it to the side seemed a normal blue or green but, in front it was much different. The outer of it was a bright somewhat light blue, the middle was a faded bright light green, and at the edges around the pupil, a noticeable yellow ring. When the tram passed through places with any sort of light, it's almost like his eyes picked it up immediately, like a magnet, and began to light up. Calhoun had never known eyes were able to do that. He was so tempted to ask how this was possible, but of course he didn't want to get reported or fired. Though he connected with the man on his eye colors, given he himself has heterochromia. He just assumed he had the same. Probably a rare condition?

The floor level was quiet at this time, since everyone was already up and working. The clocks read 9: 57 a.m. as Calhoun and the suited man walked down the hall to get to his dorm. Calhoun wanted some way to get comfortable with the man, he figured maybe he would like talking about the facility, maybe tell him about what to expect.

"So, um.." He hesitated for a second. "… You ever worked in a facility like this before?" The suited man looked over and shook his head. "Aren't we just like other research companies though?" "Not… entirely," The man replied. "This one in particular… stands out." Calhoun cocked his head a bit and gave an odd look. "How?..." The man tightened his tie. "All of your… mannerism towards one another. Working so well even when some of you don't… eh, cope well?" He said the last part in a questioning tone, wondering if he had used the right words. "Oh no, I get what you mean. Didn't know it was uh., THAT obvious though." "I observed a bit when I had, walked in. I witnessed them during the tram travel. However, I do not really see it as a, negative quality." Calhoun was just confused.

"Other companies I've attempted contact with, they seem to only work with.. who they favorite. Which I find to be…. Mmm… 'lazy'." Calhoun nodded in agreement. "Of course, I'm only referencing those who, cannot seem to finish task because they are merely, socializing... " "We used to have people like that, until big man Administrator himself took it upon himself to punish the WHOLE company for it. Now whenever someone gets caught slacking, we smack 'em around and tell them to get back to work." The suited man looked to him with an odd expression. Calhoun looked back. "Whatever we gotta do I guess."

The suited man got his keycard handed to him as he opened the door to his room. He walked in as Calhoun stood in the door frame, peering his head in very slightly to see as most of the room as he could. "Oh man, these are… a lot fancier than the ones my science pals get." He looked to the man. "You're REALLY important then. Going to the level right under his office, getting the fanciest room-I'm jealous, to be honest." The man just looked to him, almost expecting him to say something important. Calhoun stared back but snapped out of his frightened gaze. "Uh, well. I'm authorized to leave you alone for today. Tomorrow I have to tour you around the place." Calhoun slightly closes the door, as he does he says, "Rest well, sir." And the door shuts.

The man set his briefcase on the room's desk before he took a good look around the room himself. He wasn't so much big on interior design, but he particularly enjoyed the professional décor. He took a seat as he opened his case and looked into the forms placed inside. He quickly read the resume, the applications, the legal documents, his birth certificate, his identification papers, and his I.D. All fake, of course, he never existed until about a week ago. He was lucky enough to even be taken seriously at this rate. Truth be told, he was spoon fed all information given to him about politics and analytics. Even given information about politics from around the world, Europe, Asia, India, Africa-all around. Everything he 'learned', he didn't learn it himself. In fact, he never even been in another science facility at all. This was going to be the only one he ever went to, apparently. Not that he mind at all, of course.

'Only a month until the act,' he thought to himself. 'Only a month to find perfect resources for the aftermath. A month to find willing specimens, the right ones for the job. Ones that can be trusted not to say a word.' For a moment, he felt a jolt in his inners. Possibly excitement. Or his intestines doing their job. Whatever it may have been, he didn't have the time to analyze. For now, he was just going to plan. Plan every little detail that he can, until the next day begins.


End file.
